Anybody Seen Skip??
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The Official Publication of the Worldwide TV-FM DX Association AUGUST 2005 The Magazine for TV and FM DXers ANYBODY SEEN SKIP?? AFTER SITTING IN FRONT OF THE TELEVISION FOR WEEKS ON END, IN A FUTILE ATTEMPT TO SEE SOME Es, BOB FINALLY REALIZES THE SEASON IS OVER AND GRUDGINGLY AGREES TO LET HIS WIFE CUT HIS HAIR. WHAT CAN WE SAY ABOUT THIS SUMMER’S SKIP SEASON? THE ANSWER: NOT MUCH! TV and FM DXing was never so much fun! THE WORLDWIDE TV-FM DX ASSOCIATION Serving the UHF-VHF Enthusiast THE VHF-UHF DIGEST IS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WORLDWIDE TV-FM DX ASSOCIATION DEDICATED TO THE OBSERVATION AND STUDY OF THE PROPAGATION OF LONG DISTANCE TELEVISION AND FM BROADCASTING SIGNALS AT VHF AND UHF. WTFDA IS GOVERNED BY A BOARD OF DIRECTORS: DOUG SMITH, GREG CONIGLIO, BRUCE HALL, KEITH McGINNIS AND MIKE BUGAJ. Editor and publisher: Mike Bugaj Treasurer: Keith McGinnis Webmaster: Tim McVey Editorial Staff: Dave Williams, George W. Jensen, Jeff Kruszka Keith McGinnis, Fred Nordquist, Matt Sittel, Doug Smith, Adam Rivers, Peter Baskind and John Zondlo, Our website: www.anarc.org/wtfda Our forums: www.wtfda.info AUGUST 2005 _______________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS Page Two 2 Mailbox 3 Finally! For those of you online with an email TV News…Doug Smith 4 address, we now offer a quick, convenient and Photo News…Jeff Kruszka 10 secure way to join or renew your membership Eastern TVDX…Matt Sittel 13 in the WTFDA from our page at: Western TVDX…Dave Williams 15 http://fmdx.usclargo.com/join.html Northern FMDX…Keith McGinnis 19 Southern FMDX…John Zondlo 35 Dues are $25 if paid to our Paypal account. But 6 meters…Peter Baskind 37 of course you can always renew by check or Color TV History…Bob Cooper 40 money order for the usual price of just $24. Satellite News…George Jensen 44 Either way, it’s still a bargain! Amps and Preamps 45 Blast from the Past 46 Editors/Submissions 47 VUDS ON A CD! What can we do to express our feelings for this summer’s pathetic skip season but laugh Every VUD from Jan at it. So make a copy of our cover this month, 1980 to December 1989 tack it against a wall and throw darts at it. is on this disk. You’ll Everybody is here this month except Adam, need Adobe Reader to who is here in spirit but in reality he and his read them. Why have a family is vacationing in Galveston, TX as I type box of old VUDs taking up space when you can this. We hope you enjoy this issue and have a have this. It’s yours for just $8.00 per disk. great month. Send your check or money order for $8.00 to WTFDA, P.O. 501, Somersville, CT 06072. Make it payable to WTFDA. NO – He Ain’t Dead Yet! Just when you think the guy would be ready to retire, Bob Cooper takes off with another major project. On DVD you can get TVRO HISTORY, TEN YEARS OF SATFACTS on DVD and/or TELEVISION: The technology that changed our lives, plus on hard cover only, VIDEO PIRATES. If you know Bob, you know this will not be boring reading. If you are interested, drop a line to us at PO Box 501, Somersville, CT 06072 and we’ll mail you a pamphlet like the one on the left for you to examine, but we have a LIMITED QUANTITY, so act NOW! 2 P.O. Box 501, Somersville, CT USA 06072 MIKE BUGAJ [email protected] IT’S AUGUST parking lot by the WCIB tower and catch a few rays of RF. Yes, it is! And the sixty-four dollar question We also welcome Phil Bytheway to the is what’s happening with the Es season this club. Phil, as many of you may already know, year. The answer seems to be not much. is publisher of the IRCAs DX Monitor and it’s According to a poll at the WTFDA message hard, soft and extra dry versions. board site, the best grade most people can Phil’s membership is good for you folks give to this season is a “D”, which is not good. out there because having Phil looking over In fairness, though, if I were living in the my back will probably mean fewer mistakes in northwest or the southern gulf states, I’d the VUD. Maybe. probably rate it a “C” instead of a “D” because Let’s not forget the members who a few folks were able to clean up on some renewed for another year, and they are Steve openings nobody else saw or heard. French (MN), Rich Wertman (NY), John One of the factors that had an effect on Zondlo (OK), Michael Temme-Soire (NJ), the amount of DX heard on FM this summer William Eckberg (IL), Fred Newlin (NY), was IBOC, as Clear Channel, Infinity and John Johnson (MT), James Ivil (WV), Alan other station owners turned on the IBOC Michalek (MA), Joseph Esser (NJ), Rick sidebands in great numbers in the Lewis (AZ), Calvin Glover (MD), Doug northeastern USA, rendering many urban Smith (TN), Nick Lombardi (GA), John DXers’ valued adjacent channels useless for Hourigan (OH), Walter Patton (ON), William most DXing except for strong tropo and e- Lindsay (WA), George Jensen (MD), Ralph skip. Luckily there are many areas of the Strobel (IN), Ron Wing (KS), James Snow United States where IBOC has not yet taken (GA), Robert Williams (ID), Ken Bedley hold and DXers still check out the FM band in (ON), Paul Swearingen (KS) and Ron relative serenity. Enjoy the open channels! Purdue (MN). Thank you all very much for staying another year! MEMBERS AND MORE CONVENTION 2005 This time we cover the period from June 17 through July 15th. We’d like to welcome By the time you and I read this, WTFDA into the club Bob Garchak from Jefferson Convention 2005 will be history. Initial Hills, PA (14 miles south of Pittsburgh), Chris estimates predicted a lower turnout for the Black from S. Yarmouth, MA, Michael Dallas festivities, but we will find out as time Scheel from Davenport, IA and Phil goes on. We want to thank John Callarman Bytheway in Seattle. for his efforts in hosting the convention, in Here is part of a letter Bob wrote. I think spite of his wife’s illness and hospitalization we all can relate to this. Bob writes “First of during that period. In this regard, John went all, thanks a million for sending me a copy of way beyond the call. Thank you , John! the 2005 WTFDA TV Station Guide I ordered. I only wish I knew you folks existed before WTFDA FORUMS this” (and I also wish we knew you knew we knew we existed, I think). As long as we’re thanking members, a Bob also wanted some info on certain really big “thank-you” goes out to Chris UHF stations and that will take some research Cervantez for supplying the software, or at least a couple of hours at w9wi.com registering the domain name and hosting the looking up info. Bob, if you have a computer, spanking brand new WTFDA Forums, which take a look at Doug Smith’s website can be found at http://www.wtfda.info. We http://www.w9wi.com and you should be able invite every WTFDA member to check out this to get the information there. In the meantime, address no matter where you are. I’ll try to look up the info in my spare time. Now I don’t know if Yarmouth can handle LAST BUT KNOT LEAST… two WTFDA members in the same town, but Roy, meet Chris. Chris, meet Roy Barstow. Just a short column this month. Hopefully Maybe you both can meet over in Walmart’s we can have more for you next month. -Mike 3 Douglas E. Smith TV 1389 Old Clarksville Pike Pleasant View, TN 37146-8098 News [email protected] http://www.w9wi.com August 2005 AF Applied For (a new station) PC Power (and/or tower height) change on the air Aux Auxiliary (backup) transmitter PG Power change granted CC Callsign change PR Power change requested CL City-of-license change QC Channel (?frequency??) change on the air DE License/permit deleted QG Channel change granted FC Programming (?format??) change QR Channel change requested FTP Failure to Prosecute RE Reinstated (previously-dismissed app.) GA Granted amendment (to table of channel ROA Request of Applicant allotments) LC License to Cover SI Off the air (?silent??) MX Mutually Exclusive STA Special Temporary Authority NDA Non-directional antenna XC Transmitter site changed NS Permit granted for new station XG Transmitter site change granted NW New station on the air XR Transmitter site change requested PA Proposed Amendment Abbreviations: News: in regular type; full-power digital stations in bold italics) (full-power analog stations in bold face; LPTV and translators Canada: WVUA-CA 7 Alberta: Tuscaloosa 7 WVUA-CA FC to shopNBC Red Deer 31 CBXFT-4 PR>7.2kw/216m Arizona: Algoma Mills 45 CICO-55 Req. deletion Flagstaff 11 NEW-LP AF dismissed Serpent River 51 CICO-61 Req. deletion Lake Havasu 10 KBBA-LP XG 34-36-09/ Spragge 31 CICO-62 Req. deletion City 114-22-16 Parker 39 NEW-LP AF dismissed Phoenix 17 KPHO-DT PC>940kw/507m Safford 15 K15GC NW 9.95kw, Puerto Rico: 32-39-00/ Bayamon - San 44 W21AR QC from ch. 21, 109-50-55 Juan 21.8kw Sierra Vista 44 KWBA-DT NW 1000kw/319 Tucson 25 KMSB-DT NW 480kw/1123, 32-24-56/ 110-42-50 U.S.